About

↑Click

"BIG CLAPPER" is a clapping robot from Japan that can cheer up anyone, anytime, anywhere, Spreading Happiness and Joy Two Hands at a Time!

It utilizes technology for reproducing realistic clapping sounds with soft hands and was designed specifically to generate fun and glee for all mankind. "BIG CLAPPER" also has speech and performance functions to handle a wide range of application scenarios. Pre-ordering in Japan began in August 2017 and was limited to 100 units, but the number of orders far exceeded expectations. At CES 2018, the world’s largest electronics trade show, we exhibited "BIG CLAPPER" and the response was overwhelming. We truly believe in the universal appeal of "BIG CLAPPER" and its power to transcend borders and delight all people.

WE HOPE FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN CREATING AN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE VERSION OF "BIG CLAPPER" (cue applause!!!)

Realistic Clapping with Soft Hands

Having fun is easy; making fun easy, on the other hand, takes time and effort. In order to recreate a natural clapping effect, a great deal of development went into the materials, shapes, angles and other aspects of Big Clapper’s hands.

Charming Appearance and Voice

BIG CLAPPER has a roundish red body and a delightfully dapper expression. It speaks in an distinctly cute robotic voice while opening and closing its mouth. BIG CLAPPER cheers people up and makes an immediate, unforgettable impact. With the joyful mood that BIG CLAPPER creates, you may forget that it’s a robot.

Handles Various Scenarios

Speech functions for various scenarios come standard with BIG CLAPPER. BIG CLAPPER can handle over 500 different scenarios in which people get together including, but not limited to: retail, corporate, exhibitions, school functions, social gatherings, birthday parties, weddings, and watching sports… just to name a few. BIG CLAPPER also comes pre-loaded with 30 types of performances to accompany these scenarios.

Leave everything to the Motion Detector

BIG CLAPPER is very simple to use. When you turn it on, it starts up in 5 seconds. With the standard function, you just choose the scenario. It claps its hands when the motion detector detects someone and also calls out in a cheerful voice.

Connect to Apps for Even More Fun

When your BIG CLAPPER is connected to the dedicated iOS and Android apps, the fun never ends. In Performance mode, it can sing and cheer people up who are down. In My Music mode, it can be synced with your iTunes music and clap along automatically to your playlist. And, if that isn’t enough, the customized speech function converts your voice to BIG CLAPPER’s voice to greet and talk to people through the robot. *The iOS app is in the App store and an Android app is currently being developed.

In the real world, BIG CLAPPER attracts people’s attention and puts a smile on their faces!

Focusing on Clapping

The original impetus for BIG CLAPPER was the research I was doing as a graduate student. While I was researching interactive technologies, I realized I was much more interested, more than most people, in soft tactile things. I decided I wanted to build entertaining machines and robots that would lift people’s spirits. So I focused on clapping.
Clapping has characteristics similar to what I wanted to make:

An expression that relies on softness

A connection to music, theater and other forms of entertainment

A means of non-verbal communication

Universality

I wanted to make something that would delight people all over the world and went to work on the prototype of a clapping machine named “Onzu”. Take a look:

You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content.

Replay with sound

Play with sound

00:00

00:00

Looking at it now, it really is disgusting. The flesh is transparent. From the start, I had no idea if it would even make a clapping sound. So I diligently reproduced everything about human hands, the bones, joints, and muscles, and then made them slap each other pretty hard. The sound was better than I expected, but as I was filming, the hands flew all over the place and when I was done I remember it being too pathetic to even watch…

I thought about where I went wrong and got to work on building hand parts that would efficiently generate a clapping sound. I built one thing after another but nothing that satisfied me, and my workshop had piles and piles of hands.

Eventually, I was able to make realistic hands that generated a pleasant clapping sound, and this was the first official Onzu clapping machine.

Onzu Clapping Machine →BIG CLAPPER

The first Onzu received exposure through various events and media. This included an invitation to exhibit and perform at Ars Electronica , the world’s largest media arts festival. It elicited laughter just by clapping. It also won prizes, including a Asia Digital Art Award 2009 in the Interactive Arts category and a So-net Award and Yugi Igarashiki Award at the 1st NicoNico Gakkai Beta Symposium .
I didn’t want this clapping machine to only be a work of art. Based on this thought, I started on developing BIG CLAPPER.

You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content.

Replay with sound

Play with sound

00:00

00:00

Rhythm of Love Wall

Our technology for producing a realistic clapping sound was utilized in the “Rhythm of Love Wall”. The “Rhythm of Love Wall” (client: 7-ELEVEN Taiwan ; agency: United-Asatsu International Ltd. ; operator: PARTY NEW YORK) was an installation that showers people with applause from a multitude of hands on a wall when they donate to a donation box at a 7-ELEVEN store. We contributed “Clapping Hand Tech & Design Direction” to the project. The Rhythm of Love Wall received a Merit Award at The One Show , which is one of the world’s three largest advertising awards, won an award at the British D&AD Awards for design, and also received awards in three of the five categories at ADFEST 2018 , one of Asia’s largest advertising festivals, in March 2018.

You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content.

Replay with sound

Play with sound

00:00

00:00

CES 2018 , the world’s largest electronics trade show

You'll need an HTML5 capable browser to see this content.

Replay with sound

Play with sound

00:00

00:00

We exhibited BIG CLAPPER to CES 2018 and have got great response

About “Bye Bye World” (What is that?)

When people hear “Bye Bye World,” they tend to understand it negatively as meaning, “So long, world!,” but it’s far from that.
I went to college because I wanted to create computer games, and I thought up the name when I was first learning to program. My first assignment was to display “Hello World!” with a UNIX shell script, which is known as the world’s most famous program. I was thinking ‘why “Hello World!”?’ as I coded and ran the program and it displayed “Hello World!” on the screen. Then, I thought that it seemed to be welcoming me to the world that created by computers, and I thought if I were only to polish my programming skills, I would only be able to make games that could be enjoyed in that digital world alone.

My next thoughts were: ‘I have to get out of this world! I have to get out of the world of computers!’ Which doesn’t mean I gave up on learning how to program or that I was opposed to programming itself. Rather, I wondered whether it would be possible to create substantive, fun experiences that did not yet exist between people and other people as well as between people and objects through a more general practice of creation that also included programming. As a counter to “Hello World!” the words “Bye Bye World!” popped into my head.

Bye Bye World. Wow, neat! Let’s roll with that!

This was in 2003. After that, just as I had expected, people quickly became enmeshed in the world created on computers, through smartphones, tablets, mobile games, virtual reality, etc.

But I studied electronic engineering, computer music, interactive technology and more at college and created works that were both physical and digital. I finished a graduate program in 2012 and started out on my own, forming BYE BYE WORLD Inc. in 2013, which I still run today.

I plan to continue to work on cutting-edge technologies and pursue the creation of more pleasant and enjoyable experiences with “fun robots” that are also interesting as physical creations.

Masato Takahashi , Developer of BIG CLAPPER

President of Bye Bye World Inc., an entertainment-oriented maker of creative products.

Creates digital-physical works like toys, machines and robots.

Develops works and products that utilize analog and digital technologies. Main works include Onzu, a life-sized clapping machine, and Pachi-Pachi Clappy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5d3bkR7iko), a toy you can make clap using one hand.

Has served many years as a member of the official application planning and development team for the Pepper robot from SoftBank Robotics . Received the “Partner of the Year ” award, the top prize, which is given to outstanding app development teams.

Risks and challenges

(1)
We will not accept cancellation or refund requests after the project is over. Your understanding is appreciated.

(2)
The product recipient is the official importer, and compliance is required with all laws and regulations in the country where the product is delivered. If your delivery address is outside of Japan, you may be subject to import duties and taxes (including VAT), which are levied once the delivery reaches your country. Any such additional charges must be borne by you. Please note that customs policies and practices vary widely from country to country. We recommend that you contact your local customs office for information.

(3)
We’re unable to deliver to PO Box addresses.
We can deliver to your permanent residential address or your place of employment.

(4)
Delivery of the product may be delayed due to the pledge amount or production circumstances.

(5)
Product specifications and the product name are subject to change.

(6)
The product manual, user’s manual and safety warnings are provided in English only. The product (and accessories) may not be designed in accordance with the regulations, specifications or label requirements of your country.

(7)
A natural disaster, accident, or other unforeseen circumstance may make production impossible.

(8)
Please note that images shown may differ from the final product.

(9)
Compensation for any damage sustained during delivery depends on the coverage provided by the delivery company.

(10)
The warranty lasts for 30 days after receipt and covers initial product defects and malfunctions during normal use.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge ¥690,000 or more
About $6,246

シンクロセット（2台）

KICKSTARTER SPECIAL of SYNCHRONIZATION SET to connect 2 BIG CLAPPERS in perfect harmony (￥106,000 OFF in total)
includes
・Complimentary Synchronization Device which is equivalent to ￥100,000
・2 English-Language version of BIG Clappers

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge ¥1,000,000 or more
About $9,052

シンクロセット（3台）

KICKSTARTER SPECIAL of SYNCHRONIZATION SET to connect 3 BIG CLAPPERS in perfect harmony(￥144,000 OFF in total)
includes
・Complimentary Synchronization Device which is equivalent to ￥100,000
・3 English-Language version of BIG Clappers